3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
Module 3: Intercultural Communication Verbal
3.1.1 Formal & Informal Communication
(Basic Level)
Explanation
Verbal communication is the act of using language to exchange information or to express
ideas, thoughts or feelings to someone else.
In order to communicate successfully, different levels of formality are used to respond
appropriately to different circumstances and different people.
In this module we are we are going to examine formal and informal language in the
workplace.
Formal Language:
In a work environment formal communication is necessary when presenting work to
colleagues, in a meeting, when speaking on the phone, in written and email communication.
Formal communication is usually used when speaking to a superior/manager and shows a
level of respect and politeness.
Formal communication channels:



Emails
Letters
In a formal setting - meetings, conferences, presentations, interviews.
Informal Language:
In a work environment informal communication is used when speaking to co-workers that
you have a relaxed relationship with in the office and it is used with all of your co-workers
outside of the office.
Sometimes you may speak formally to someone in a meeting in front of other colleagues/
clients and then change to informal conversation afterwards.
Informal Communication Channels:



Email
One-to-one conversation
Interoffice phone-calls
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
In most work environments a mixture of both formal and informal language is used
throughout the day, depending on the position of the person you are communicating with
and your relationship to this person, it becomes a matter of personal judgement to decide
which type of communication to use and when.
For example, you may have a relaxed, friendly relationship with your manager who you
normally use informal language with but if you are in a meeting with this person you would
usually change to formal language out of respect for the formal situation.
In the UK, in many businesses, hierarchy is still considered to be important and informal
ways of communicating with those in higher positions is not generally encouraged. You
must become familiar with your workplace and your colleagues before knowing when it is
appropriate to use informal language.
Activity 1
Practicing Formal Communication for Work:

Hand out the worksheet for Activity 1.

Ask the students to work in pairs. They must read the three options provided for
each question and decide which option is not suitable to use as a response in formal
written communication.

When they have finished discuss as a whole group the answers they have chosen and
why.
Activity 1 Answers:
1. Which sentence is not suitable to address someone with in a formal email/letter?
1. Hey there Mr Smith
2. Dear Mr Smith
3. Dear Sir
2. Which sentence is not suitable for a final sentence in a formal email/letter?
1. Take care of yourself
2. I look forward to hearing you from soon
3. I await your response
3. Which is not suitable to introduce the subject of a formal email/letter?
1. I have to tell you about this
2. This is in regard to
3. This is in relation to
4. Which sentence is not suitable if you want to ask for some assistance or advice in a formal
email/letter?
1. It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide me with some advice/assistance
2. If you could help me it would be great
3. If you could provide me with some advice/assistance that would be great
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
5. Which sentence is not suitable to thank someone in a formal email/letter?
1. Thanks a million for that
2. Many thanks for that
3. Thank you very much for that
6. Which sentence is not suitable to say you are sorry for something in a formal email/letter?
1. I’m sorry about that
2. I wish to apologise for that
3. I sincerely apologise for that
7. Which sentence is not suitable to explain that you have included an attachment with the email?
1. Here’s a file/document with this email
2. Please see the attached file/document
3. Please find the file/document attached
8. Which sentence is not suitable to end a formal email/letter with?
1. Lots of love
2. Kind regards
3. Many thanks
Activity 2


Email Correspondence
Hand out the worksheet for Activity 2 and ask the students to read through the
sentences and choose which option is not suitable to use in a formal email.
When the students have finished the activity discuss the reasons for their choice.
Activity 2.1 Answers:
1. Dear Jane, thank you for your email which I _____ yesterday.
 got
 received
 saw
2. I ____that you are very busy at the moment, so thank you for taking the time to____.
 know & reply
 appreciate & respond
 see & answer
3. I am ____ to hear that you will be able to ____ our conference.
 delighted & attend
 happy & come to
 glad & be at
4. I will send the agenda for the conference to you _____.
 very soon
 shortly
 sometime soon
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
5. Please let me know if you ____directions to the conference.
 require
 want
 need
6. The conference will begin at 5pm, please _____ by 4.30pm.
 arrive
 show up
 be there
7. Please ____ me if you need any more information.
 call
 contact
 tell
8. I _____ to _____you then.
 can’t wait & see
 look forward & seeing
 hope & see
9. Kind___,
 regards
 wishes
 thanks
10. _____thanks,



Many
All my
Kind
Activity 2.2
This involves using the sentences and vocabulary from activity 1 and activity 2.1 to create a
short formal email and a short informal email as if between colleagues in a workplace.
Telephone Communication:
Talking on the telephone to customers, clients and other work colleagues is an important
part of communication in the workplace.
There are usually two separate groups of people you will be expected to verbally
communicate with over the telephone in a workplace.
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
The first group consist of people who are external to your workplace:
customers/clients/people making enquires etc. When you are representing the organisation
or company on the telephone to people external to the company it is standard to be friendly
but use some formal language.
The second group consist of people who work within the same office/company/organisation
as you and are familiar to you. When you are speaking to people within your own workplace
it is more common to use informal language but to be polite.
Activity 3.1
Practicing Formal & Informal Language for Telephone Communication in the
Workplace

Hand out the worksheet for Activity 3.1

This is a listening exercise. The module audio recordings are located in the resource
folder on the RISE website – http://rise-project.eu/

The students must listen to audio recordings of telephone conversation snippets
and identify two things:
1. what type of relationship each conversation represents (do the two people know
each other or not)
2. whether the language used is formal or informal

When the students have finished the exercise go through the answers provided
below and discuss.
Activity 3.1 Answers:
Telephone Conversation Examples
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
How’re you? I was just wondering if you used the
photocopier, earlier today?
Listen John, I saw that email earlier and I replied
so don’t worry about it!
If you would like to leave your name and number
sir, I will ensure Mr Jones gets your message.
If you will just hold the line for one minute please,
I will check if she is at her desk.
Of course, it would be my pleasure Simon.
Cheers for the letting me know Tina.
Sure Ms Gavin, I will get to work on that right
away and email you over the prices.
I’m sorry, I cannot hear you properly. Please hang
5
Known
Person
X
Unknown
Person
Formal
Informal
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
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up and call again.
Good morning, I wish to register a complaint with
your company.
Okay, thank you very much for your call.
Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention
Tom.
Hi there, are you free to come to the awards event
later?
I’m contacting you in relation to the meeting you
attended two months ago.
Okay chat to you later.
I agree madam, this is not acceptable. I will
ensure the CEO is made aware of this incident at
once.
Okay, thank you Henry. You’re a great help. I’ll
just leave a note for my assistant to sign for the
delivery.
Huh? Who’s calling? Can you say that again? I’m
having a hard time hearing you.
Good afternoon partners. I would like to introduce
my colleague Sam to the conference call today.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Hand out the worksheet for Activity 3.2 and ask the students to work in pairs to
determine the correct formal response in the telephone conversations provided.

Discuss the answers the students have chosen with the help of the answers provided
below.
Activity 3.2 Answers:
1. Hi, this is the Carnegie Centre, how can I help you?
 Hello, I am calling in relation to your online advertisement.
 Hey, this is about that ad I saw online.
2. I’m sorry but the manager is not here at present.
 Okay, that’s alright. I want to leave a message.
 Okay, that’s fine. May I leave a message please?
3. Hello, I’m calling in follow-up to an email I sent to the HR Manager last week.
 Yea she got your email, thanks.
 Yes I believe she received your email, thank you.
4. Ms Kit, I have the IT engineer on the line to speak to you. Will I put him through to you?
 Yes, please do, thank you.
 Yea sure, ta.
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
5. Hello, can you hear me?
 I’m sorry the line is very bad. I’m not able to hear you.
 What? I can’t hear you, what are you saying?
6. I will call back tomorrow to speak to Ms Green, thank you.


Okay, bye.
Okay that is fine, thank you for calling.
7. Good morning, is John Stern there please? I would like to speak with him.
 Yea I don’t know. I suppose I can check. One second please.
 I’m not sure if he is in the office currently. Please hold and I will check for you.
8. Hello, this is Couriers Direct, how can I assist?
 Hello, can I get a courier to come to our office for a file ASAP?
 Hello, I would like to order a courier to collect a file from our office as soon as
possible please?
Supplementary Activity
When the students have completed and corrected activity 3.2, the tutor directs the students
to rewrite the conversation questions and answers using informal communication instead.
Students are then asked to role-play in pairs both a short formal and an informal
conversation dialogue.
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
Activity 1
Practicing Formal Communication for Work:
Work in pairs to decide which option is not suitable to use as a response in formal written
communication.
1. Which sentence is not suitable to address someone with in a formal email/letter?
1. Hey there Mr Smith
2. Dear Mr Smith
3. Dear Sir
2. Which sentence is not suitable for a final sentence in a formal email/letter?
4. Take care of yourself
5. I look forward to hearing you from soon
6. I await your response
3. Which is not suitable to introduce the subject of a formal email/letter?
4. I have to tell you about this
5. This is in regard to
6. This is in relation to
4. Which sentence is not suitable if you want to ask for some assistance or advice in a formal
email / letter?
4. It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide me with some advice/assistance
5. If you could help me it would be great
6. If you could provide me with some advice/assistance that would be great
5. Which sentence is not suitable to thank someone in a formal email/letter?
4. Thanks a million for that
5. Many thanks for that
6. Thank you very much for that
6. Which sentence is not suitable to say you are sorry for something in a formal email/letter?
4. I’m sorry about that
5. I wish to apologise for that
6. I sincerely apologise for that
7. Which sentence is not suitable to explain that you have included an attachment with the email?
1. Here’s a file/document with this email
2. Please see the attached file/document
3. Please find the file/document attached
8. Which sentence is not suitable to end a formal email/letter with?
4. Lots of love
5. Kind regards
6. Many thanks
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
Activity 2.1
Formal Vocabulary for Email Correspondence
Which option is not suitable to use to complete each sentence below?
1. Dear Jane, thank you for your email which I _____ yesterday.
 got
 received
 saw
2. I ____that you are very busy at the moment, so thank you for taking the time to____.
 know & reply
 appreciate & respond
 see & answer
3. I am ____ to hear that you will be able to ____ our conference.
 delighted & attend
 happy & come to
 glad & be at
4. I will send the agenda for the conference to you _____.
 very soon
 shortly
 sometime soon
5. Please let me know if you ____directions to the conference.
 require
 want
 need
6. The conference will begin at 5pm, please _____ by 4.30pm.
 arrive
 show up
 be there
7. Please ____ me if you need any more information.
 call
 contact
 tell
8. I _____ to _____you then.
 can’t wait & see
 look forward & seeing
 hope & see
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
9. Kind___,
 regards
 wishes
 thanks
10. _____thanks,
 Many
 All my
 Kind
Activity 2.2
Take some of the sentences from activity 1 and activity 2.1 as inspiration to construct a
short formal email and a short informal email.
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3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
Activity 3.1
Practicing Formal & Informal Language for Telephone Communication in the
Workplace
Listen to the audio recordings of the following telephone conversation and tick the boxes,
identifying two things:
1. what type of relationship each conversation represents (do the two people
know each other or not)
2. whether the language used is formal or informal
Telephone Conversation Examples
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Known
Person
How’re you? I was just wondering if you used the
photocopier earlier today?
Listen John, I saw that email earlier and I replied
so don’t worry about it!
If you would like to leave your name and number
sir, I will ensure Mr Jones gets your message.
If you will just hold the line for one minute please,
I will check if she is at her desk.
Of course, it would be my pleasure Simon.
Cheers for the letting me know Tina.
Sure, I will get to work on that right away and
email you over the prices.
I’m sorry, I cannot hear you properly. Please hang
up and call again.
Good morning, I wish to register a complaint with
your company.
Okay, thank you very much for your call.
Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention
Tom.
Hi there, are you free to come to the awards event
later?
I’m contacting you in relation to the meeting two
months ago.
Okay chat to you later.
I agree madam, this is not acceptable. I will
ensure the CEO is made aware of this incident at
once.
Okay, thank you Henry. You’re a great help. I’ll
just leave a note for my assistant to sign for the
delivery.
Huh? Can you say that again? I’m having a hard
time hearing you.
Good afternoon partners. I would like to introduce
my colleague Sam to the conference call today.
11
Unknown
Person
Formal
Informal
3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Basic Level
Activity 3.2
Practicing Formal & Informal Language for Telephone Communication in the
Workplace (continued)
Work in pairs to determine the correct formal response in the following telephone
conversations.
1. Hi, this is the Carnegie Centre, how can I help you?
 Hello, I am calling in relation to your online advertisement.
 Hey, this is about that ad I saw online.
2. I’m sorry but the manager is not here at present.
 Okay, that’s alright. I want to leave a message.
 Okay, that’s fine. May I leave a message please?
3. Hello, I’m calling in follow-up to the email I sent to the HR Manager last week.
 Yea she got your email, thanks.
 Yes I believe she received your email, thank you.
4. Ms Kit, I have the IT engineer on the line to speak to you. Will I put him through to you?
 Yes, please do, thank you.
 Yea sure, ta.
5. Hello, can you hear me?
 I’m sorry the line is very bad. I’m not able to hear you.
 I can’t hear you, what are you saying?
6. I will call back tomorrow to speak to Ms Green, thank you.


Okay, bye.
Okay that is fine, thank you for calling.
7. Good morning, is John Stern there please? I would like to speak with him.
 Yea I don’t know. I suppose I can check. One sec, please.
 I’m not sure if he is in the office currently. Please hold and I will check for you.
8. Hello, this is Couriers Direct, how can I assist?
 Hello, can I get a courier to come to our office for a file ASAP?
 Hello, I would like to order a courier to collect a file from our office as soon as
possible please?
12